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(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen" 1. V.' ANDRBTTA. UPPER.

11G. 431,761. Pamentea July 8, 1890.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

V. ANDRETTA.

UPPER. v y No. 431,761. l Patented July 8, 189.0.

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=L v i v ATTORNEYS UNITED STATESg PATENT' OFFICE.'

VINCENZO ANDRETTA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

UPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,761, dated J' u1y 8, 1890.

Application iiled April 24, 1890. Serial No. 349,262. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, VINCENZO ANDEETTA, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boots or Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to boots or shoes which for gentlemens wear might properly be called high-cut shoes and for ladies wear be termed boots, and which are made to extend up over or above the ankle, and, fastening down in front, are provided with a tongue-piece that closes the opening made in front of the upper, which facilitate the insertion or removal of the foot.

The invention consists in a boot or shoe yof the above description having its entire upper and tongue-piece made without seam and of one and the same piece of leather, substantially as hereinafter described, and whereby wet or damp and air are more etfectually eX- cluded and a neat nish is given to the boot or shoe.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a view in perspective of a high shoe, which is synonymous with a low boot, made in accordance with myinvention, said shoe being shown as thrown open and one of its front side pieces turned partly down or over. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of said shoe as seen from its rear, and Fig. 8 a

perspective view of the last on which said shoe is made. Fig. 4 is a sectional view, in part, upon the line 4 4 in Fig. l; and Fig. 5, a further sectional view, in part, upon the line 5 5 in Fig. 1.` Fig. 6 is a plan view of the leather blank from which the entire upper and tongue-piece of the shoe are made.

A indicates the entire upper or upper part of the shoe, made to open down the middle in front to facilitate the putting on and off of the shoe, which as here shown is a lace one, being provided with eyelets b or lace-fastenings down the opposite sides c c of its opening part.

B is the tongue-piece that closes the shoe in front beneath or on the inside of its front middle opening part. This tongue-piece B is in reality an attached bellows-like curtain,

not separate or distinct from the entire upper A, but made of one piece of leather with it, and the lining C is made in the same manner from another piece of leather, so that when speaking of the shoe opening down the middle in front it is not implied that there is any actual opening or aperture made in the front portion of the shoe, but rather that provision is made for spreading apart the front opposite sides c c of the shoe without any detachment of the curtain-like tongue-piece B from them.

To thus make the upperA of the shoe without any sea-mor opening in front, up its sides, or up its back, and with an expanding and contracting tonguepiece B of one and the same piece of leather as the upper,I use a last constructed substantially as shown in Fig. 3, and in which it (the said last D) is made with a tapering groove or depression d from its upper or shank part down to near its instep, flanked on opposite sides with sharply-pio jecting ilanges e e. I then throw or arrange over the top portion of the shank of the last a leather blank, as shown in Fig. 6, mainly of circular form, with sloping front margins f f and double-convex front or toe ends g g, or other suitably-shaped blank, and work and smooth it down over the last, tacking its marginal portions to the bottom of the last. In thus making the upper A, which, after it is removed from the last, is cut or has a portion of the leather removed from where it was fitted over the top part of the shank part of the last, the blank, in being fitted over the flanges e e of the last down into the groove or depression d, leaves a sufficient amount of leather to make the curtain-like tongue-piece B'integral with the upper or main portion of the upper A. The lining C is similarly made, and after being slipped into its place is suitably stitched to the upper. A

The integral tongue-piece B has its bellowslike construction given it by turning over the sides c c on the inside and stitching such sides, as by rows of stitching h h, down on the main body of the upper, and then crimping the intermediate portion of the integral tonguepiece to forma series of tapering longitudinal folds c', thus providing for the lateral expansion and contraction of said tongue-piece, to

admit of the putting on and off the shoe and IOO to secure the close lacing of the same. The opening to the shoe at its shank or ankle part and the lower edges ot' the upper having been suitably dressed, shaped, or trimmed,the entire and seamless upper, with its integral tongue-piece, is then stitched or attached to the sole E in the ordinary or any suitable manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A shoe the upper of which is formed of a blank of substantially the form shown and described crimped into proper shape and having its top front portion turned inwardly to form an expanding tongue-piece, the doubled edges of which are secured in place to the front edges of the quarters and provided along such doubled edges with suitable fastening devices, substantially as set forth.

VINCENZO ANDRETTA. Witnesses:

C. SEDGWICK, E. M. CLARK. 

